Triming helicopters in DCS

[Raven_Morpheus]

Hey all

 

I keep reading conflicting information about how trim works for the helicopters in DCS, specifically the Huey.

 

Now, I've worked out how to use the trimmer in the Ka-50, it's this -

 

Press and hold trim button (t on the keyboard)

Move stick

Release trim button

 

This avoids fighting the autopilot.

 

 

Now for the Huey I've read 2 different things -

 

The 1st is just press the trim button when stick is in position. The 2nd is as above for the Ka-50, press and hold the trim button then release it when the stick is in position.

 

 

 

So, which is correct?

 

TIA

[Esac_mirmidon]

First one.

 

The Huey has a Force Trim, different system than the Ka-50

[Davis0079]

click and hold or clicky-clicky alot. That is the eternal question.

 

 

In the Ka-50 I click and hold, move the stick, release. Unless I'm under fire, doing acrobatics, drunk, saving myself from vortex rings or just not paying attention. Then I use the clicky-clicky method.

 

I think the Ka-50 flys better and smoother if you use the click and hold, maneuver, release method. But when I watch videos of real in cockpit Ka-50 footage I hear a lot of clicky-clicky going on.

 

In the real Huey I think the trimmer is a stick lock more then a trim and move the stick back to center. So the ingame trimming system may not be all that accurate. But, its made this way because not many ppl have the special type of joystick required for a more realistic trimmer. So ingame when you hit the trimmer you can let go of your joystick, it can flop back to center and you can fly smoother. In a real Huey you move the stick forward 4 inches, hit the trimmer and it stays there. It does not come back to what we call "center". Knowing this I fly the Huey with a move the stick, click trim, let go method.

 

 

How you or others choose to fly is more of a choice. Its more of what feels right to you. Not what others tell you is right. Both helos are different, so how you fly one may not be the same as another.

 

 

Also. In the Options page. Under the "Special" tab. You will see an option for "center trimmer method". This is how the trimmer engages. So. no matter if you clicky-clicky or hold and move, this option will change things alittle.

 

this option controls when the new trim setting takes control. So, if you move the stick forward hit and release trim. the game will either wait for you to move your joystick back to center. Or it will wait like .5 of a second to set the new trim, giving you time to recenter your joystick.

 

Once again is a matter of feel more then what the real aircraft flys like. The game dev realize that very few people build realistic joysticks that trim out and re-center (or lock into a new center) like a real thing.

 

 

So all DCS helicopter pilots must decide between the click and hold or clicky-clicky method. And also play with the ingame center method option to find what they feel is right. Because technically speaking, all of it is debatable.

 

With the ka-50 being a fly-by-wire system, it is more comparable to the toy flight sticks we use.

Edited March 27, 2015 by Davis0079

[Svend_Dellepude]

There is no FBW about the Ka-50. In the real thing you move the stick and press and release the trim button and the stick sticks where you left it, thanks to a or some powerful electromagnet(s).

Or you can press trim, move the stick and then release. only difference is that when you press and hold the trim you remove the force of the magnet holding the stick in place.

But in both instances you simultaneously, when releasing the trim, send a command to the autopilot to engage whatever conditions you just gave it.

[Raven_Morpheus]

Knowing this I fly the Huey with a move the stick, click trim, let go method.

 

 

Yes this is how I've been flying the Huey. I've been reading different recently.

 

Thanks guys for clearing that up.

 

 

Next question then -

 

In the Huey, when I press the trim button or t on my keyboard, the actual stick in the cockpit moves (to one side or the other, I forget which way) and the position is also moved on the controls indicator. This happens whether I've got central position trimmer mode set or not.

 

If I keep pressing the trim button the stick keeps moving the same amount in the same direction each time and I can end up with the stick in the cockpit completely deflected to one side (and the controls indicator shows the same position).

 

This happens even if my joystick is at centre.

 

Is that normal behaviour?

 

It seems odd to me as it seems a degree of deflection is added each time the trim button is pressed.

[King_Hrothgar]

There is no difference from a player standpoint between the trim on the Ka-50, UH-1 and Mi-8. The trim on all three work exactly the same. As for your second question, that's odd. It sounds like your stick may not actually be centered and it needs to be calibrated. I'll take a quick look at the UH-1 to see if I have the same issue, but I've never noticed it before.

 

Edit: Couldn't replicate your issue, recalibrate your stick.

Edited March 27, 2015 by King_Hrothgar

[Raven_Morpheus]

Not my stick, I've checked that already. Unless it's an issue peculiar to the Saitek X-52.

Edited March 27, 2015 by Raven_Morpheus

[Odin_74]

click and hold or clicky-clicky alot. That is the eternal question.

 

Some pilots also like the move then click method. Works better with ffb stick or irl.

[Raven_Morpheus]

Actually scratch that second query.

 

Just checked and it's not happening now. Must've been fixed in a recent patch or something.

 

It only happens if I am holding my joystick in a position and press t or my trim button multiple times but that's because it's registering my joysticks position and adding to the deflection in-game each time because I haven't returned my joystick to centre.

 

My bad.