How to Takeoff?

[S. Low]

I might be misremembering but I thought wags said he had curves on his rudder because he has to use either a twist grip or a paddle for his rudder.

Admittedly I don’t know if that’ll be reflected in the controls indicator. 
 

I had an issue with the excessive yaw initially and I believe it was related to trim. 
 

By default the trim style is a single-press trim that is friendly for FFB controllers. I assumed it was a press and hold then release system like the default ka50 trim option but it’s not. So my trim hold then release technique got the helo in all sorts of weird trim states until I realized I needed to just press once with this option, or switch to the center trim option 

[Mavericko]

24 minutes ago, syzygy said:

I am doing the taxi, hover, transition tutorial.

I have cleared all axis binding before reassigning, for both the CPG and pilot

What happens if you just give more left pedal?

[syzygy]

I have no idea about the trim system for the apache, where can I learn more about it ?

Just now, Mavericko said:

What happens if you just give more left pedal?

The rate of rotation to the right gets slowed but as soon as I release even a slight amount it goes back to spinning

[S. Low]

5 minutes ago, syzygy said:

I have no idea about the trim system for the apache, where can I learn more about it ?

The rate of rotation to the right gets slowed but as soon as I release even a slight amount it goes back to spinning

Yes this is correct. You’ll need to keep the left pedal down a bit (10-40%) and hold it until you reach forward flight.

 

If the amount of pedal you have to physically press is uncomfortable for you, go to controls - pilot - axis - and highlight rudder. Click Tune on the bottom of the controls window. For curve add a -10 or -20. 
 

This will make the pedals more sensitive initially and less sensitive at max deflection, but will translate to you pressing less left pedal on take off and landing 

[syzygy]

1 minute ago, S. Low said:

This will make the pedals more sensitive initially and less sensitive at max deflection, but will translate to you pressing less left pedal on take off and landing

What about the translation jist after lift off ? Do I have to put curves for that too ?

[S. Low]

As a general question, Do you know that you have to trim the aircraft to keep it stable without needing to physically hold the controls?

Just now, syzygy said:

What about the translation jist after lift off ? Do I have to put curves for that too ?

The curve you add will be for your rudder controls, it affects the sensitivity overall. So instead of pressing 20% left pedal for lift off you may only need 5-10% of left pedal. 
 

As you add power via increasing collective you need more pedal, so where you may normally need 30% left pedal… with a curve of -20 you may only need 10-15%.

This assumes no trim was used 

[syzygy]

1 minute ago, S. Low said:

As a general question, Do you know that you have to trim the aircraft to keep it stable without needing to physically hold the controls?

Yes I do know that but there is no instructional video or tutorial as to how the apache trim works the in game tutorials do not have it too.

[S. Low]

13 minutes ago, syzygy said:

Yes I do know that but there is no instructional video or tutorial as to how the apache trim works the in game tutorials do not have it too.

Well first just check special options. Not in pause menu, but in the DCS world main menu go to settings, then select tab special options. There’s a trim type drop down box. If it says something to the effect of “FFB FRIENDLY” then that means press trim button once. If it says something like “Center … blah blah” it means you hold trim button and move controls until aircraft feels stable, then release trim button and quickly release your physical controls (stick and pedals) letting them recenter - then fly from this position.

So now, if you have FFB friendly trim option, in game the Apache trim will feel like a Mi8 trim sort of. Or a Huey. Move your physical stick and pedals until flight is stable, press trim up once, and keep going.

Further, what you can do to assist your take off and subsequent hover is to trim before take off.

While still on the ground, press a little left pedal and then pull stick back just a tad. Press trim. Now gently and slowly add collective. Slowly. And correct with the stick slowly if you see any wobble 

edit: I also wanted to add that the FFB friendly trim option is for FFB sticks which can be physically held in a new position with trimming the in game cyclic. So if you’re using a normal stick and you use this option, when you recenter your stick the game will read your slight movement from trim position to center as a movement of the stick off center.

Its probably better if you switch to Center release trim option in special options tab. And check to see if it still works with a single trim press instead of hold and release because that method is annoying 

Edited March 18, 2022 by S. Low

[LooseSeal]

Yeah, I had this, but it didn't take long to figure out why.

Unlike in the Hind, there is no option to turn off rudder trim - which I really don't understand. It would make it easier for those with spring-based pedals, or me anyway!

So, I completely forgot that when I trimmed the cyclic, I also trimmed the rudder - so you need to reset the rudder to the centre position for it start having an effect again, in the same way that you need to reset the cyclic to centre.

At least, this why I was spinning in circles for a while.

[S. Low]

1 minute ago, LooseSeal said:

Yeah, I had this, but it didn't take long to figure out why.

Unlike in the Hind, there is no option to turn off rudder trim - which I really don't understand. It would make it easier for those with spring-based pedals, or me anyway!

So, I completely forgot that when I trimmed the cyclic, I also trimmed the rudder - so you need to reset the rudder to the centre position for it start having an effect again, in the same way that you need to reset the cyclic to centre.

At least, this why I was spinning in circles for a while.

This here is probably the answer. 

[agamemnon_b5]

1 hour ago, lee1hy said:

Little unstable but it can handle it

set force trim before take off much better fly 

Unfortunately, that just worsens my issue with trying to control the thing.

 

Seriously, all in all I'm finding the Hind to be tons more stable in all aspect of flight than the Apache.

[CybrSlydr]

How are you folks handling taxiing?  I'm doing training mission #2 and all I can seem to do is rotate around my axis like a merry-go-round.  Very little yaw control to keep it going straight.

I'm using a Cougar HOTAS - I have the radio 4-way bound to my left-right rudder control for now.

[dburne]

I am getting the feeling learning the Apache may be a bit like a cowboy taming a wild horse lol.

Going to keep at it though.

Edited March 18, 2022 by dburne

[Ignition]

9 hours ago, piipu said:

sounds like it, I didn't have this problem. It feels a bit more wobbly than the Ka-50, but still flyable just fine.

For me its much more unstable in yaw than the Ka-50.

[M1Combat]

It SHOULD be much more unstable in yaw than the shark...  It's only got one rotor...  the ENTIRE point (or nearly...) of a two rotor set is to stabilize the heli in yaw...

 

[dburne]

23 minutes ago, Ignition said:

For me its much more unstable in yaw than the Ka-50.

Yep agreed.

[Recluse]

2 hours ago, CybrSlydr said:

How are you folks handling taxiing?  I'm doing training mission #2 and all I can seem to do is rotate around my axis like a merry-go-round.  Very little yaw control to keep it going straight.

I'm using a Cougar HOTAS - I have the radio 4-way bound to my left-right rudder control for now.

Having same issues. I have Rudder Pedals, but maybe they are a little out of calibration. Still I watched Casmo's video and he seems to be able to easily taxi straight with tail wheel locked. I also start spinning when I get the collective up to 35-37 or whatever they say in the Taxi/Transition training mission even with tailwheel locked.

[CybrSlydr]

7 minutes ago, Recluse said:

Having same issues. I have Rudder Pedals, but maybe they are a little out of calibration. Still I watched Casmo's video and he seems to be able to easily taxi straight with tail wheel locked. I also start spinning when I get the collective up to 35-37 or whatever they say in the Taxi/Transition training mission even with tailwheel locked.

I can't seem to get the tail wheel to lock after I unlock it.

[Recluse]

Just now, CybrSlydr said:

I can't seem to get the tail wheel to lock after I unlock it.

Watch CASMO's tutorial. He explains that the lock is a pin that slides into a hole in the wheel. So after castering, the wheel needs to straighten out before the pin can drop in and lock it.

 

 

[CybrSlydr]

21 minutes ago, Recluse said:

Watch CASMO's tutorial. He explains that the lock is a pin that slides into a hole in the wheel. So after castering, the wheel needs to straighten out before the pin can drop in and lock it.

 

So the button on the left side of the console won't extinguish unless the tailwheel is straightened and you hit the lock button?

[Recluse]

1 minute ago, CybrSlydr said:

So the button on the left side of the console won't extinguish unless the tailwheel is straightened and you hit the lock button?

This is my understanding from the video.

[skypickle]

19 hours ago, Mad Dog 762 said:

I have had trouble with it wanting to go backwards when I pull pitch.  Even shoving the cyclic all the way forward wouldn't stop it going backward.  I think I have something wrong with controls or trim.  

I had this issue in the instant missions.

[VDV]

does the apache have any kind of autopilot , i cant find it....i mean even Hind has autopilod and apache is way more modern, it should have any too

[Whiskey11]

3 hours ago, agamemnon_b5 said:

Unfortunately, that just worsens my issue with trying to control the thing.

 

Seriously, all in all I'm finding the Hind to be tons more stable in all aspect of flight than the Apache.

It's been a rough learning experience for me... I've flown the Ka-50, the UH-60L, and the UH-1H fairly religiously prior to this, and just can't get the handle of transitioning to a hover.  Seems excessively twitchy in all axis even with massive curves.  It's like you get sub 40 knots or so and the entire aircraft wants to go into a fast flat spin.  I have a hard time believing the real helo is this twitchy at low speeds...  If it is, then I guess I'll just have to hope for an AH-1W or AH-1Z for a modern attack helo with FLIR...

[ollk22]

12 hours ago, Valinor said:

The issue i had was that i had set a big deadzone on the yaw axis, and that wasn't making me apply full force on the yaw to counter the rotation on takeoff. I reduced the deadzone and i was able to handle it properly, now it's pretty easy to stay in hover, much stable than say the Mi-24 for me.

I find the Mi24 much more stable personally!