New to the KA50

[yipster]

Hi,

 

I've had this module for some months now and have only found myself flying the KA50 for less than 5 hours. I'm just struggling to learn my way to fly it.

 

I can call myself an advanced A10C driver and I'm fairly competent with the Huey as well. But I find the KA50 behaving absolutely different to anything that I've flown and it really confuses me a lot. The built in training packages doesn't seem to help much either.

 

I'm after tips and easy start off missions to ease myself into learning this module. It seems like it has a lot of potential fun in it. :thumbup:

[QuiGon]

Hey,

 

what makes you struggle? The avionics or the flying? If it is the latter then I have some advises:

 

- Trimming/autopilot: In the Ka-50 the autopilot is bound to trimming, meaning that, if AP is engaged, then you need to keep the trimmer pressed everytime you change your flight regime (heading, pitch). By doing so you tell the AP to stick to the new flight regime. If you don't do that and change your flight without pressing the trimmer you will "fight the autopilot", because he will try to bring you back on the old course.

 

- Flight Director: Because of the way the AP works in the Ka-50 a lot of new Shark pilots struggle with it, because they aren't used to it (especially if they have flown one of the other choppers before). But there is a way to fly the Ka-50 like the other choppers. It's called Flight Director. It's the 5th of the blue AP buttons and it will turn off the AP but keep the dampeners/stabilizers active. That way you can fly the Ka-50 like you used to from the Huey without having to keep the trimmer pressed everytime you maneuver.

 

I hope that helps for a start :)

Edited July 15, 2016 by QuiGon

[Vitormouraa]

Trust me, the Ka-50 is one of the best modules ever, I love it a lot. Of course, it is a bird hard to fly when you start flying it, but knowing the aircraft better you will learn how to anticipate the maneuvers, then you realise the Ka-50 is pretty cool, actually the Ka-50 is the easiest Helicopter to fly in DCS right now, it flies very well, very stable, powerful, when you lose lift you will recover easily, very fast, maneuverable.. anyway, it is awesome, but look, don't give up, after hours and hours practicing will love it!

[QuiGon]

Indeed, when you get used to it, it is the easiest to fly helicopters in DCS, thanks to it's advanced flight systems. But, at least for me, it also makes it the most boring helicopter to fly in DCS, because it's a flying computer unlike the Huey which is a really enjoyable and natural flight experience. It's comparable the M2000 with it's artifical fly-by-wire system compared to the MiG-21 in the fixed wing world.

 

BUT, that doesn't mean I'm not enjoying the Ka-50! it's actually quite the opposite, because it is great fun to fight with. Unlike the Huey the Ka-50 is a potent and pretty advanced weapon system that, if used the right way, can be devastating to the enemy. :thumbup:

[Vitormouraa]

Agreed. But when it comes about helicopters, I'd rather choppers like AH-64 Apache (I'm assuming it's easy to fly, or at least easier than any heli in DCS). For me, helicopter, not only helicopters, but also airplanes, must be easy to fly in combat, but as we know DCS is a digital simulator, so doesn't really matter, most of us use DCS to have fun, of course, I am in DCS because I love flight sim, but at the same time we have fun with simulation. Anyways, I don't like that much to fly helicopters like Huey.. (actually it is awesome, I am talking about the Helicopter itself) I think I know why, I need a better equipment to fly them well at least. F-15 for example, also inclunding the Mirage, I don't have fun.. I really like to fly the Su-27, I don't get bored flying it, it's awesome, but in combat, the flight controls used in F-15 and Mirage make a lot more sense. But F-15 and Mirage are really boring. If I had a better equipment I am sure I would love to fly the Huey. However, for now I like the easy ones, but it's not just about flight dynamics, but also it includes the task the helicopter does, I like attack helicopters, and to be even better, modern like Apache! (as you can see I love the Apache..)

Edited June 29, 2016 by Vitormouraa

[Gizzy]

Hi,

 

I'm after tips and easy start off missions to ease myself into learning this module. It seems like it has a lot of potential fun in it. :thumbup:

 

Keeping on topic, Yipster, have a look at these YouTube videos, really easy style, tutorials broken down into small easily assimilated videos...

 

 

Then you have ED's own videos, a bit old but still good...

 

 

There are lots of others about but for me, these worked ..

 

Hope this helps...

Edited June 29, 2016 by Gizzy

[firmek]

As above. Reading and understanding how the autopilot and trimming system in Ka-50 works is essentiall as it is not intuitive at all. Without the basic understanding of concepts behind it you'll just end up fighting the heli instead of flying it to it's potential - which will result in bad results and poor satisfaction.

Some links:

- http://www.simhq.com/_air13/air_429a.html

- https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=216920028

 

On the other hand I have to admit that Mi-8 and Huey are the modules where I get the fun from just flying them and enjoying the flight model. I don't know if is just how the Ka-50 is meant to fly in reality or its flight model is just not in pair with the one from Mi-8/Hueay due to being old but Ka-50 isn't just so enjoyable to fly. The satisfaction from it comes more from it's attack capabilities and applying the tactics. It's still a great module, IMO must have for anyone into helis but it's a different beast from Mi-8/Huey.

Edited June 29, 2016 by firmek
Added links

[dburne]

Chuck's excellent KA-50 guide is a good resource as well, really helped me out a lot.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-uSpZROuEd3U1VZWWNBam9ZdDg/view?pref=2&pli=1

[yipster]

Hey,

 

what makes you struggle? The avionics or the flying? If it is the latter then I have soem advises:

 

- Trimming/autopilot: In the Ka-50 the autopilot is bound to trimming, meaning that, if AP is engaged, then you need to keep the trimmer pressed everytime you change your flight regime (heading, pitch). By doing so you tell the AP to stick to the new flight regime. If you don't do that and change your flight without pressing the trimmer you will "fight the autopilot", because he will try to bring you back on the old course.

 

OMG, I knew I was doing something wrong! I am used to the Huey where you get the chopper in position then press the trim button to centre the stick where you left it. :doh:

 

Thanks to everyone for their great input and I'll start studying and flying it again. :thumbup:

[firmek]

In Ka-50 you should press and hold the trim button, change your direction and than release it - especially in the autopilot mode. With flight director mode it's not necessary but IMO it's a good habit to do it anyway in Ka-50.

[Yurgon]

The others have already pointed out some of the essential guides and videos.

 

Personally, I think Froogle's explanation on the trim system is one of the best there is, very easy to understand and to the point:

 

 

Another favorite of mine is the old, but still accurate, Leading Edge Training (divided into 6 parts, because YouTube only allowed videos of 10 minutes at the time). This doesn't explain how to fly the chopper, but does a great job of explaining the start-up procedure in great detail, including many of the built-in tests.

 

 

On a personal note, I totally love the Ka-50. It's an awesome attack chopper. Not quite as much seat-of-the-pants as the Huey and the Gazelle, but incredibly strong.

 

Oh, and highly maneuverable as well! ;)

 

[yipster]

Took a test flight last night knowing to hold the trim button down to make flight attitude changes, it now all makes sense! lol

 

First impression I have after a achieving a normal flight (without fighting the AP systems), it is soooo steady! Almost feels like a computer arcade game coming from a Huey. Just point it forward, hands off and go read the manual while it flies perfectly straight and level. Feels unreal.

[QuiGon]

Took a test flight last night knowing to hold the trim button down to make flight attitude changes, it now all makes sense! lol

 

I'm glad you got it working :)

 

First impression I have after a achieving a normal flight (without fighting the AP systems), it is soooo steady! Almost feels like a computer arcade game coming from a Huey. Just point it forward, hands off and go read the manual while it flies perfectly straight and level. Feels unreal.

 

That's what I meant when I said that the Ka-50 is not really exciting to fly. The Huey is much more fun in that regard. But it is a hell lot of fun to fight with and deploy it as a deadly weapon system :thumbup:

[BRAVO_16]

The only other thing I'll add is to get BigfootMSR's Training missions.

[dburne]

The only other thing I'll add is to get BigfootMSR's Training missions.

 

I believe those have since been incorporated into the stock KA-50 Training Missions. When you load them up, you will see Bigfoot's name credited to them.

[Yurgon]

That's what I meant when I said that the Ka-50 is not really exciting to fly.

 

Agreed.

 

For training purposes, I sometimes fly with all stability channels off. Flying like that definitely adds a level or two of excitingness. :D

 

But it definitely helps to know how the chopper flies without the fancy stability augmentation in case these fail as a result of battle damage.

 

When everything works okay, I totally enjoy being able to look out the windows or focus on the Shkval while the Shark does the flying for me. It's a bit difficult to wrap one's head around the trimmer and the autopilot, but once a pilot has this down, I think the chopper is a masterpiece of engineering, and currently one of the most deadly machines on DCS' virtual battlegrounds! :thumbup: