How is it compared to the Huey?

[epoch]

Well, once I've got the Gazelle and once I've played it enough, I may start a new thread in the Mi-8 forum how it is compared to the Huey and the Gazelle ;-)

 

 

Do give it a try. It's lots of fun. I think you mentioned earlier that multiplayer is something you're interested in, so you should be fine. There's some frustrating multiplayer bugs (sound & sync issues) but with any luck they'll be fixed once Polychop get going again. And it's still fun in MP despite the problems. Crewing up with a buddy is a blast. :joystick::fear:

 

Enjoy!

[Charly_Owl]

No fooling? I'll be darned. I saw the mod mentioned in Chuck's guide and assumed it wasn't natively available. In my defense, I just got it this weekend through the Steam sale and I've flown it twice. Thanks.

 

I should've probably removed that slide... the english cockpit being natively available is a recent addition by Belsimtek.

[Hawkeye60]

Thanks for all the additional feedback. I was watching some more videos and reading some more reviews. Overall, it seems it's really a module worth getting. Startup procedure seems not impossible from what I've seen ;-) Learning the weapon system will probably be the harder task.

 

I can start the Gazelle, in VR, without ever touching the mouse!

I use button boxes to assign all the important controls to.

I start the chopper by feel alone! In just a few minutes!

Combined with voice attack/Viacom it is just plain FUN!

 

Be dammed the FM!!!!!!!!! Just go fly and shoot something! Please! LOL

[rge75]

Bought it today...oh well, this will take quite a while to master it :-o Starting seems ok, but once the chopper starts to roll left/right during flight, it becomes very hard to become it steady again. Time to study some tutorials ;-) Seems like it really can be fun, but the difference to the Huey is more extreme than I expected it.

[FragBum]

Bought it today...oh well, this will take quite a while to master it :-o Starting seems ok, but once the chopper starts to roll left/right during flight, it becomes very hard to become it steady again. Time to study some tutorials ;-) Seems like it really can be fun, but the difference to the Huey is more extreme than I expected it.

 

Yes as I said the Gazelle can be very twitchy not sure of your controls but initially it might help to wind the saturation down a bit on the cyclic input. When I first started I had saturation down to like 28, now I have saturation @100% and 90% saturation of the opposite sense which makes it more sensitive but I do have an extension on the cyclic now.

 

Landing well the Gazelle is most unforgiving, part of the initial landing woes for me was coming to terms with the amount of spring loading in the skids and getting the collective down otherwise you can get airborne again real easy.

 

Although I still sometimes get the bias on the pedals wrong between Huey and Gazelle when taking off. :music_whistling:

 

Enjoy!

 

<edit>

 

One thing I found is that the centre detent in the joystick I was using made it difficult to get the finer cyclic input required to that end I modified the joystick to get rid of the detent andit works great for me but YMMV

 

A project I started on link to thread here.

Edited May 6, 2017 by FragBum
Joystick mod link

[rge75]

Yeah, I read something about the saturation but when I set it down to 50%, I noticed that the Gazelle simply tilts to the right at startup, so I set it back to 100% again. Not sure if my Thrustmaster T. Flight Hotas X simply is not accurate enough? Anyway, I'll deal with it later. Learning the Huey also wasn't that easy (at least when it comes down to landing), but somehow I managed over time *g*

[FragBum]

Yeah, I read something about the saturation but when I set it down to 50%, I noticed that the Gazelle simply tilts to the right at startup, so I set it back to 100% again. Not sure if my Thrustmaster T. Flight Hotas X simply is not accurate enough? Anyway, I'll deal with it later. Learning the Huey also wasn't that easy (at least when it comes down to landing), but somehow I managed over time *g*

 

Do you mean after you break it, it tilts to the right? I just think the AI is telling me something when that happens. Don't ask me how I know this. :music_whistling:

 

This is a relationship forged in time, when that happens just re-start again, usually all good after a re-re-start. :thumbup:

[rge75]

No, it happened when I was raising the collective to take off. Anyway, I adjusted the axis with 25% curvature and set deadzone to 2. Seems not that bad. I even managed to land - even though only at "ramdom" location and not where I wanted it.

 

 

I'm not yet sure about autohover though. If it's enabled, shouldn't it automatically go to autohover once I'm slow enough? Or do I have to press a button? Oh well, I'll google ;-)

[FragBum]

No that means you broke it. :)

[westr]

No, it happened when I was raising the collective to take off. Anyway, I adjusted the axis with 25% curvature and set deadzone to 2. Seems not that bad. I even managed to land - even though only at "ramdom" location and not where I wanted it.

 

 

I'm not yet sure about autohover though. If it's enabled, shouldn't it automatically go to autohover once I'm slow enough? Or do I have to press a button? Oh well, I'll google ;-)

 

You engage with a button. It will only engage when you are in the hover i.e 0 airspeed. And no ascent/decent.

When you move on to the autopilot you need to make sure you are neither gaining or loosing altitude before you engage it. Once again it won't work unless your within these parameters :)

Edited May 7, 2017 by westr

[rge75]

Thank you :-)

[FragBum]

Yeah, I read something about the saturation but when I set it down to 50%, I noticed that the Gazelle simply tilts to the right at startup, so I set it back to 100% again. Not sure if my Thrustmaster T. Flight Hotas X simply is not accurate enough? Anyway, I'll deal with it later. Learning the Huey also wasn't that easy (at least when it comes down to landing), but somehow I managed over time *g*

 

Sorry I miss-read that, the "lift collective and tilt over to the right"is a failure mode normally from too many hard landings or even just one hard landing. Don't ask me how I know that. :music_whistling:

 

 

Saturation should only reduce the range of input for a given amount of travel of the joystick not limit the input to one direction or another. That doesn't sound correct at least to the effect it has on my Logitech 3D pro controller. Applying it to both X and Y simply reduces the input of that control not direction.

 

Landing takes a little practise but for me the greatest input control when landing is the collective. For that I usually apply some curvature to smooth out the change in lift verses the position. I'm guessing you would be using your throttle control as the collective?

[TripRodriguez]

The Thrustmaster T-flight is the only Thrustmaster stick that is lousy. Also stay away from Logitech (pot spiking) and arguably Saitek (now owned by Logitech) due to reliability/durability issues. T16000M, VKB, Warthog, and CH Products are my suggestions. If willing to spend a lot for helicopter controls go with Microhelis.de gear (they have everything) or the VKB Gunfighter (just a stick, but has friction adjustment)

Edited May 8, 2017 by TripRodriguez

[rge75]

Just finished the first mission of the campaign. It's really a complete different flying than with the Huey. Search and Destroy isn't bad, so I think I'll enjoy the campaign. But the Huey will remain my big love ;-)

[FragBum]

Just finished the first mission of the campaign. It's really a complete different flying than with the Huey. Search and Destroy isn't bad, so I think I'll enjoy the campaign. But the Huey will remain my big love ;-)

 

Try setting up an instant action mission turn off enemy and friendly forces and fly the Gazelle till about 20% remaining fuel the Gazelle then can hover much longer and you can start playing around and have some serious fun if your careful you wont destroy the engine. And when you get down to reserve fuel level (don't forget to engage the fuel pump) you'll see just how light the Gazelle is compared to the Huey.

 

A good starting point is Jean air base it's a short flight into town (Los Vegas) which conveniently burns off some fuel, I get about 1hr 50 something minutes flying doing this.

 

You do need to manage the EGT (and overall output) of the turbine as you can quickly cook it yielding very little power unlike the Huey ATM. The larger turbine of the Huey seems to loose the heat faster than the smaller turbine of the Gazelle when you back off the power.

 

 

And then turn SAS (AT) off the Gazelle actually flies very well albeit you then have to provide the necessary control input (as you do in the Huey) to fly it correctly it's just the Gazelle is waaaay more responsive especially when lightly loaded.

 

 

Between Huey and Gazelle I have 400+ hrs and 10000+ landings (landing on buildings does not count in the landings FFS I hate to think what the total would be!!) in DCS 2 NTTR.

 

>233Hrs in Gazelle and more landings in the Huey so far. :helpsmilie:

[rge75]

I'm not quite sure if I've got the point. It's not like I'm not gonna play or not enjoying the Gazelle. It's just that the Huey seems more "what I prefer". It would probably be like comparing the Spitfire to the F-15.

 

 

But yeah, maybe it's too early to judge on it. I might have a round 3h in the Gazelle so far and maybe 200 - 300 in the Huey. It's just a complete different experience IMO. The Gazelle seems to "fly by its own" toward the waypoint. Not many corrections needed. Maybe adjusting the trim. But the Gazelle is a lot more sensitive when I have to change the correction. It may go up a lot because of the speed loss in a corner. IMO I have to do a lot more work with the collective with the Gazelle.

 

 

Coldn't I simply start with 20% fuel? Thanks for the hint with the fuel pump. I'm not yet that experienced to know all those little secrets.

[FragBum]

I'm not quite sure if I've got the point. It's not like I'm not gonna play or not enjoying the Gazelle. It's just that the Huey seems more "what I prefer". It would probably be like comparing the Spitfire to the F-15.

 

Depends I have only flown Gazelle and Huey, Huey exclusively in DCS 1.5 steam for a couple of hours. There different yet for me feel similar allowing for scale and physics.

 

 

But yeah, maybe it's too early to judge on it. I might have a round 3h in the Gazelle so far and maybe 200 - 300 in the Huey. It's just a complete different experience IMO. The Gazelle seems to "fly by its own" toward the waypoint. Not many corrections needed. Maybe adjusting the trim. But the Gazelle is a lot more sensitive when I have to change the correction. It may go up a lot because of the speed loss in a corner. IMO I have to do a lot more work with the collective with the Gazelle.

 

Duno I tend to use the collective a fair bit in the Huey too. ;)

 

Coldn't I simply start with 20% fuel? Thanks for the hint with the fuel pump. I'm not yet that experienced to know all those little secrets.

 

Quite probably I'm still learning to fly. :thumbup:

[WildBillKelsoe]

would you say the Gazelle is as complex as the KA-50 or somewhere in the middle between Huey and KA-50?

 

And what about missions/campaign? How are they compared to the Huey ones in terms of amount, quality and difficulty?

 

I'd say difinitely in the middle, but this is subjective because people view avionics, simplifications, flight model, weapons employment differently. What you view as simplicity in startups, I view as many factors. Yes you can start gazelle slower than huey but not as slow as ka-50. You can takeoff in huey but I am having gripes with the lightness of controls and the FM of gazelle. Autopilot is also better in huey but you dont get hover autopilot, so its all relative. My advice is to buy it and fly it so you can see it for yourself.

 

I did not bother to read about VEAOs Hawk and went in and bought her, only to regret it later. Money well spent? definitely yes! Really? yes. Because I saw it firsthand and nobody gave me the gist. But thats just me

 

Again, missions are equal in gazelle compared to huey but dont expect A-10Cs missions vanilla or not, these come by time and the community is key.

[Rotorhead2037]

The Gazelle flys like a dream. it is smooth and predictable, just like the real thing. It is not known as the Ferrari of helicopters for nothing. I also like the Huey solid and easy to fly. The Mi8 for me is really wobbly. I've never flown one in real life but I just can't get it.

 

Flying a helicopter is not easy. Even in a sim it is not something you will get in 15 minutes. It requires time and effort. It took me almost 3 hours to learn to hover in real life.

 

Mastering a helicopter is one of lifes subtle but most satisfying things. You have a moment when it does what you tell it. Nirvana.

 

Persevere, you won't regret it.

[Rogue Trooper]

The MI-8 is as good as it gets when it comes to chopper sims right now. For me there is no discussion here.

 

 

Once Huey 2.0 arrives, then and only then will her limitations be known.... borrowed time is what the Huey pilot lives on.

 

 

The Gazelle gets fast, down and dirty in amongst the collidables in NTTR, she stops on a dime and delivers precision munitions well within the targets kill zone!

FM ain't quite right but she is a true machine of war and behaves as such... lovely.

 

 

 

 

KA-50 is a sweet ride... perhaps close to the best.

[FragBum]

 

The Gazelle gets fast, down and dirty in amongst the collidables in NTTR, she stops on a dime and delivers precision munitions well within the targets kill zone!

FM ain't quite right but she is a true machine of war and behaves as such... lovely.

 

Yes however I find Gazelle and Huey both fly very close to each-other allowing for size and power and lift. :thumbup:

[Rogue Trooper]

Yes however I find Gazelle and Huey both fly very close to each-other allowing for size and power and lift. :thumbup:

 

 

 

I think the Gazelle's blades allow a bit more authority in the corner and a lot more in the pitch plane when it comes to controlling the airframe. Probably due to the Hub.

But for sure the two blade rotor of the Huey is superbly efficient.

Edited June 28, 2017 by Rogue Trooper

[Rogue Trooper]

By the By, the Gazelles agility, cornering ability and agile ability to manoeuvre within confined space begins its entrance to hallowed ground in my book. At last a light weight precision attack chopper!

In my wildest dreams was such a machine reality.

 

As stated before and something I agree on, surely there should be feed back between the 3 main controllers and the way they affect each other.... these are not weakness.... they are strengths that would enhance the machines capabilities.

[smallberries]

Tbh I find the input lag on the Gazelle to be a killer. Mine gathers dust. I don't know if it's just the FM, or the gyros or what have you, but it feels like a full half second from cyclic input to response. When the helo responds, it moves quickly, which makes reaction difficult, because again the response is awful.

 

Moreso than the other helicopters, you must fly by anticipation rather than feel. While you have to know to some extent what input you should have beforehand for all the helicopters, you can feel the others better. If you are flying reactively, by feel, with the Gazelle, you are doomed. At least if feels that way to me. The only saving grace, and I'm not sure if it's natural or contrived, is that the Gazelle is rock solid if you hold a given position. It flies on rails. I'm sure the AP has something to do with that, but I'm surprised there isn't more minor oscillation.

 

I much prefer the Huey and Mi-8. I wanted the Gazelle to be a nimble helo, but it actually feels like an occasionally spastic whale.

 

A spastic whale that can fly upside down. Is it supposed to be able to do that?

Edited July 7, 2017 by smallberries

[FragBum]

Tbh I find the input lag on the Gazelle to be a killer. Mine gathers dust. I don't know if it's just the FM, or the gyros or what have you, but it feels like a full half second from cyclic input to response. When the helo responds, it moves quickly, which makes reaction difficult, because again the response is awful.

 

Moreso than the other helicopters, you must fly by anticipation rather than feel. While you have to know to some extent what input you should have beforehand for all the helicopters, you can feel the others better. If you are flying reactively, by feel, with the Gazelle, you are doomed. At least if feels that way to me. The only saving grace, and I'm not sure if it's natural or contrived, is that the Gazelle is rock solid if you hold a given position. It flies on rails. I'm sure the AP has something to do with that, but I'm surprised there isn't more minor oscillation.

 

I much prefer the Huey and Mi-8. I wanted the Gazelle to be a nimble helo, but it actually feels like an occasionally spastic whale.

 

A spastic whale that can fly upside down. Is it supposed to be able to do that?

 

Your not the first person to say they have a delay on input, I seriously don't get that issue at all.

 

Have you tried doing a repair and update on your DCS install?

 

For me if you want to fly her proactively turn the AP off and Trim off. I fly it by the seat of my virtual pants and it's very very responsive. :thumbup:

 

Can you get the Gazelle upsidedown and still fly??