RvETito

Rotor icing is not modeled currently in BS. Ice detector however is and it it is what brings the message to the EKRAN from time to time. Engine icing is also modeled so be careful to turn it on when flying in icing conditions. This is a bit odd to me though- in Ka-32 both the engines (same as Ka-50 except for the dust protectors) and the rotor have automatic ice protection. There is a temperature probe at the compressor inlet of each engine and at +5'C and less it energizes the bleed air valve to supply the inlet guide vanes and the intake with hot air. In case the automatic ice protection fails the pilot has a backup manual operation of the bleed valve which is what we have in BS. The rotor ice protection (208V 3-phase AC up to 80A) is automatically turned on by the ice detector installed usually on the top of the helicopter. In case there is a ice warning and the rotor heating system doesn't turn on there is a backup manual switch. Both the engines and the rotor have the same 3-position switches- MANUAL-AUTO-OFF. By default it's on AUTO. Very strange it's not like that in Ka-50, where there is only one crew member and it should be automatized to a higher degree.

The conclusion is that you should program your UV-26 depending on the mission meaning that you must be aware at least to certain degree what the threats might be and where they might be which again brings it to navigation and map study. Remember that missile have PK, which is never 0 or 1. So it comes down to probability assessment- dumping all your flares over the target or upon missile launch might give you an adequate protection but what about the guy with the tube in the woods on the other side of the ridge? ;)

Indeed, or like monsieur Paploo likes to say- don't think with ya gun. Both IRL and BS you never go full speed into an area unless you're sure it's safe. Work a lot with the intel (briefing, map) mission designer has given to you, get familiar with your objective and stick to it, especially when you're in a team. Navigation is crucial for good mission result in BS- learn how to work with the Rubikon navigation complex and especially how to use it to assist your combat task. Same for the ABRIS. You can't IFF in Ka-50 so you gotta be sure what you're shooting at, meaning- good SA of own and friendly forces position. Use the Skhval to sweep the area and spot all targets you can. Try Id their type and set their priority- air-defences, heavy armor, IFV, trucks, SUV's etc. Plan you own (or wing) attack thinking about efficiency and safety, forget about the score and the stats. BS is all about tactics and teamplay, it doesn't matter who makes the kill, as long as the objective is moving forward. Especially if you're a flight lead you should be the one shooting the less. If it's all about shooting and getting the most kills- well, Lock On is still out there.

I use either 2-2-2 or 2-3-2 programs, always from both wings. Seems to be a good balance of probability of spoofing the missile while conserving flares.

Make sure to have no profile loaded in the SST when you run BS and map everything inside the game.

By nominal is meant what the fuel control unit currently is set to maintain- by default it's 90% but if you operate the free turbine readjustment the new RPM value you set will be the nominal- either 87 or 93%. It's a common term for the settings of an automatic system. And yes, IRL they don't shut down an operating engine, just move it's throttle lever to Idle. I like to go the hard way in BS so I just kill it :D

In reality OEI situataions are part of every multiengine helicopter pilot training. I would recommend to everyone to try it- fly level flight at speed 120-150 km/h, shut down (by closing the cut-off valve) one of the engines and see what the other engine will automatically do and how you need to become very gentle on the collective. At that speed your rotor RPM and altitude will not change after shutting down one engine.

Personnaly I don't use that option, I always fly with governor settings 90%. It can not only maintain altitude, it can even hover and climb with OEI, of course without payload and small amount of fuel onboard. Basically, in case of one engine failure you should (after closing cut-off and shut-off valves of the failed engine and suppress the fire if there has been any) jettison the payload you can (you can't drop Vikhr launchers), move the throttle lever of the operating engine from AUTO to MAX and maitnain IAS between 120-150 km/h. Also, open the crossfeed valve to ensure all fuel will supply the operating engine. If there are no other failures you're more than able to maintain level flight and go back to home plate at one engine. Has happened to me few times and I made it safe in one piece. However, OEI landing is a tricky moment, you'd better do it airplane style (with forward speed) because you might not be able to hover at OEI depending on your weight and landing pad condition (elevation). Even when landing on a FARP you'd better estimate your approach to touch down with certain (20-35 km/h) forward speed.

No idea about CH profiles but I'll explain to you the free (also called power) turbine. Moving the throttle levers to Auto means that the fuel control unit of the engines will maintain 90% rotor RPM which is achieved by maintaining constant free turbine RPM since the last is what drives the rotors through the intermediate and main gearbox- they are mechanicaly connected. However, the TV3-117VMA on the Ka-50 have another feature implemented. It is possible to readjust the free turbine RPM governor (aka rotor RPM governor) to maintain either low (up to 87%) or high (up to 93%) rotor RPM. This is useful when your take-off and landing locations have severe altitude separation. By nominal is meant the setting of the free turbine RPM governor that it's currently maintaining. The free turbine governor readjustment switch is on the collective stick so this is what I believe is mapped in the CH profile you're using.

Not very likely. Do you have a track?

It shouldn't be. You have two options- Start from runway and Start from parking area. Make sure to save the mission after editing it like changing start position. Note- when you spawn on FARP, you'll be always at a helipad, the two options only mean you'll be spooled or not. For runway by choosing Start from runway you'll be spooled up on the runway, bu choosing Start from parking area you'll be in cold helicopter on the apron.

True, there is a lot to be desired from the AI behaviour, not only how they act as single units but also how the different type of units cooperate. If we had to wait till all that is implemented in BS I'm affraid we'd had to wait quiet some time more for the release. It would be too much otherwise. You can't have all of it in a blink of an eye. This is how it is in life, no reason to be any different in flight sims. Enough to say that new AI logics are on their way.

Yes, the EEG is only to protect the engine from overstressing- limiting maximum compressor RPM, EGT (together with the EGT electronicgovernor) and power turbine protection (it shuts down the engine in case of power turbine (rotor) overspeed). IRL the operation at take-off and maximum continuous power are limited for the TV3-117VMA - 5% from the TBO for take-off, 40% from TBO for max continuous. The book also says that you must operate no more than 6min continuously at take-off power from 2 engines. In OEI there are different modes and power limits- 2.5min mode which is also called emergency power (2400hp) and 30min mode which is actualy the take-off mode power(2200hp). For the moment in BS, there is no overstressing of the engine operating at take-off power. Torque measuring system is not so complicated to design. All russian turboprop engines have it. It represents an oil manometer and the torque is measured in bars. However, russian turboshaft engines don't have it. As for why is that, I can't really say, I would rather guess it's more a matter of design philosophy. Perhaps because of the operational time limits at take-off and maximum continuous power which are given in h.p. The marks on the red index of the engine power indicator correspond to exact value in h.p.

Just because it's a study sim BS will stay up for a while.

As far as the A2A in LO is concerned I'm pretty much happy with what my squadmate Yoda came up with. His LRM mode works quiet good in our and 104th servers and LOCERF as well.

Who said it's dead? HL still holds a lot of people flying it. Besides, did you see anything from VFAT this weekend? No other sim offers such awesome airshow experience. As I said, I'm quiet interested in flying aerobatics in LO and I don't need ED to change anything for me there. I'll take part in VFAT 2009 with LO no matter how.

Yeah, that kinda differ from aicraft to aircraft. In the Mi-17 for example you have the EMI-3 3-needle indicator with the top needle indicating nozzle fuel pressure while in Kamov helicopters this is not used and this sector is painted black. The UR-117V power indicator thouhg is all the same for all helicopters powered by TV3-117.

Personaly I don't see a need for any patch about LO and I don't hold my breath that ED will redirect any resources from DCS to LO. I'm all hooked up with BS and LO is down to aerobatics for me and my squad. IMO LO is case closed. Move on.

As far as Kamov helicopters (with TV3-117VMA engines) are concerned the available and current power is estimated from the gas-generator RPM, EGT and engines power indicator. Pitch no, nowhere in the flight manual it's mentioned as contol parameter. One simple example to illustrate it- with the same weight you'll need bigger collective pitch to hover at 1000m compared to 0m (excluding the RIG effect). Few words about the engine power indicator. The yellow marks indeed move up and down as a function of the comrpessor outlet pressure and what the indicator actualy measures is the compressor's presusre ratio. The position of the red index in the middle with the take-off, max continuous and cruise marks is controlled automaticaly as a function of the ambient temperature and static pressure. That's why it is the most accurate instrument to estimate the current and available power- it takes into account the outside conditions to calculate the max cruise, max contrinuous and take-off marks. Another very important indication are the amber lights ENG PWR LIMIT on the overhead panel- when they lit up that means the EEG has reached the treshold of it's software and it's limiting the engine power either by GG RPM or EGT, whichever occurs first. The EEG aslo gets ambient temperature and static pressure to calculate it's treshold (the maximum GG RPM for the given conditions, the EGT is fixed to 985+-5'C). So when you see those lights to illuminate you should know that further increase of collective will cause rotor RPM drop since the engine power is electronically limited.

Cyclic? I guess you mean collective.

The russian army still has 10-12 Ka-50's in service and they haven't said that they give up on them. It just doesn't fit into the new war doctrine. Keep in mind that Ka-50 is designed in late '80s with the intention to fight with NATO armoured forces in flat Europe where the Shkval suits perfectly.

Ka-50 doesn't meet nowadays russian army requirements. However it's successor Ka-52 has been aproved to go in limited serial production. The Ka-50 airframes that have been already partialy built in the '90s will be converted to the two seater version which has only different nose section.

No, ever since the engine moved to DX9.0c the basic haze became a no-go.

True, that's why I have all of the good sims installed on my PC all the time. Lock On is right now down to aerobatics and formation flying for me and my squad, now doing mostly BS and luckly for me I have more and more squadmates to fly with, I also have F4:AF with all the patches and nice mods though I never really got hooked with it because of the aircraft it features, regardless how realistic it's battlefield is, the F-16 is a no-go for me. I even still have Flanker 2.51 installed. So yes, there's plenty of room to enjoy many flight sims that are now out there. Why limit yourself by focusing only on one? You gonna miss something else for sure.

I was refering to the real aircraft, used as a reference for modeling by saying that is lacks some essential systems like radar warning system or night capabilities.