Mountain Climbing

[Neenor]

First of all, thankyou DCS for an awesome sim.

 

Thanks to all the forum users for a multitude of answers in my quest for learning to fly a chopper!!

 

I have one question which I cannot see covered in the forums;

 

On mission 6 or 7 of the deployment campaign my nav waypoints take a over a huge bloody mountain. I cannot climb high enough to get over the mountain, at a certain altitude above sea leve my engines give up and I end up hitting the floor.

 

Am I doing something wrong? I make sure rotor anti ice is on and am careful not exceed the restriction on rotor rpm.

 

Any help would be gratefully appreciated!

[159th_Viper]

...I make sure rotor anti ice is on...

 

 

And your Engine De-Icing?

[Sinnerman49]

I dunno, I ran into the same situation. I kept my IAS up while trying to climb, but I just could not make it happen. Ended up "Skiing" down the mountain on my belly before crashing to a horrible death.

[ericinexile]

The only way I could do it was very counter-intuitive:

 

Instead of staying high (3000+ m) through both valleys, I descended after the first ridge down to valley level then climbed BACK to 3600 m to cross the pass. I tried it with engine/rotor anti-ice on and it made no difference for me. In the end I kept them both off despite ECRAN warnings which had the added benefit of giving me a tad more umpf to cross the ridge. Notice your engine "tape" gauges on the wall panel and try to stay within continuous power limit. Except for short durations keep the "over-torque" lights off.

 

Hope this helps,

Smokin' Hole

[Tango]

Mountain climbing in a heli is fun! Makes you appreciate the concept of lift. ;)

 

You must keep a minimum of 80 km/h (~40 kts) forward airspeed, otherwise you will be flying too slowly to generate lift at high altitudes (this is known as translational lift). You can't hover above a certain altitude with zero airspeed without descending. Forward flight actually increases lift by increasing the airflow over the disc. Fly too fast however, and you use too much lift for forward speed, so again hit the same problem of not climbing.

 

Flying rotorcraft properly is definitely harder than fixed-wing (initially, anyway, then it just becomes second nature). Try and visualize the airflow and what you're doing.

 

Best regards,

Tango.

Edited December 20, 2008 by Tango

[AlphaOneSix]

I have found that when trying to cross anything high, just start climbing earlier. You cann't fly low to the ground and expect to climb over a mountain. Start climbing well in advance, make sure that you're engine and rotor anti-ice is on, and you should have no problem at all.

[GGTharos]

The most efficient climb speed for the Ka-50 is 130-135kph IAS (ie. by shkval/steam gauge, not ground speed as per doppler)

Edited December 20, 2008 by GGTharos
Added units for the climb speed

[bradmick]

It's really that high? I know that in the 64 my max climb airspeed which is the point on the cruise chart that shows drag is at its lowest on the airframe is usually around 70-ish knots true airspeed. I can't imagine it being much different on the Black Shark. Enviromental factors and the like all play into it, sure, but its still around abouts the same airspeed for me.

 

Brad

[GGTharos]

Yes, it really is that high :D 130kph = 70kts :D

[bradmick]

Hah, sorry about that, I just read the IAS part. Attention to detail ;)

[element1108]

I had a problem with this mission as well. I actually totally forgot i was surrounded by snow (white capped mountains much). I did manage to rake myself over the mountain top by following the flight plan TO A TEE. I was a little to the right my first time and the peak just kept going and going.

 

Anti ice and all that jazz, but make sure you follow the flight plan exactly. Scale map in if you have to and bullz eye those waypoint markers.

 

Watch out Mi 24's once you start pounding the ground...don't want to make that mountain climb only to be surprised by HIND's. ;)

 

Good luck!

[GGTharos]

@bradmick: Oh heck, if some space agency can lose its orbiters due to a conversion error, what's a bit of conversion issue between pals :D

 

@element1108: And now you know why real pilots make flight plans, and flights are briefed for hours and things are just not done nilly-willy :)

[ericinexile]

The only way I could do it was very counter-intuitive:

 

Instead of staying high (3000+ m) through both valleys, I descended after the first ridge down to valley level then climbed BACK to 3600 m to cross the pass. I tried it with engine/rotor anti-ice on and it made no difference for me. In the end I kept them both off despite ECRAN warnings which had the added benefit of giving me a tad more umpf to cross the ridge. Notice your engine "tape" gauges on the wall panel and try to stay within continuous power limit. Except for short durations keep the "over-torque" lights off.

 

Hope this helps,

Smokin' Hole

 

Just flew it again and see that practically everything I wrote above is wrong. Climbed to 3700m at "K" (Cruise) power setting. Engine/Rotor A/I ON (though I don't think it matters). Mostly ignored the "Over-torque" lights and made it across at 200kph with plenty of reserve power. Coming back I dropped stores and the helo virtually rocketed up to 3700 m to cross. Easy stuff.

 

Smokin' Hole

[AlphaOneSix]

Hah, sorry about that, I just read the IAS part. Attention to detail ;)

 

Seems like that number tends to be the same for most helicopters, or at least in the general range. (It's the same for the Mi-17)

[Tango]

Bell 206 JetRanger is around 40-70 kts IAS, depending on altitude. Slower than 40 kts and it starts to get interesting, especially if you're in ground effect.

 

IAS rules! :D

 

Best regards,

Tango.

[sobek]

Engine/Rotor A/I ON (though I don't think it matters).

 

Oh it does matter, believe me on that one, it matters a lot. Especially if you fly high for a longer time.