cannot reproduce Ka-50 Auto-Hover not working

[BalticDude]

When I press Auto-Hover button, it's bounded and everything however it does not engage. Is there a reason for this? On this server I am playing on, it is snowing heavily and I have anti-ice on for rotors and engine. Besides that idk why Auto-Hover is not working. Anyone know what I can do in the future or if this is a bug? Thanks!

[edmuss]

Check if the route mode switch is engaged, don't rely on the light on the overhead dash as I don't believe that illuminates is there isn't a waypoint selected in the PVI800.

I use the warthog speedbrake forward switch for route mode and a number of times it's caught me out with auto Hoover not engaging. Because the switch toggles forwards I sometimes forget to slide it back to centre so it considers it that route mode is engaged.

[Damned - Gh0st]

Additionally to the above post, ensure the Flight Director is turned off and only engage it after you have come to a hover manually and trimmed your aircraft

[ADHS]

Hello.

Try a clean ME mission just with a KA-50 to see if it is a server/weather/procedures problem.

Thank you.

[JayJ]

On 12/23/2022 at 10:18 PM, BalticDude said:

When I press Auto-Hover button, it's bounded and everything however it does not engage. Is there a reason for this? On this server I am playing on, it is snowing heavily and I have anti-ice on for rotors and engine. Besides that idk why Auto-Hover is not working. Anyone know what I can do in the future or if this is a bug? Thanks!

Did You happen to have a short power outage during your flight eg. due to blade rotation speed being too slow on abrupt deceleration?

[Schlomo1933]

Be shure u have trimed your shark properly . 

Also be shure Route Mode and Flight Director are DISENGAGED. 

[BalticDude]

11 hours ago, JayJ said:

Did You happen to have a short power outage during your flight eg. due to blade rotation speed being too slow on abrupt deceleration?

I don't know but on every other server it works fine so might have been a server bug or random failure.

[Tiger-II]

The Shark must be near zero velocity, stable in altitude, and in heading mode (hit the trimmer button). Disengage Flight Director!! Engage altitude hold, and it should hover on its own.

If your controls are not trimmed, or they are a long way out from their trimmed position (depends on your hardware) then the AP will not have control authority to maintain position.

Edited January 2, 2023 by Tiger-II

[GrEaSeLiTeNiN]

Anyone find the auto hover is not as "magical" as before? 

[aaronwhite]

23 minutes ago, GrEaSeLiTeNiN said:

Anyone find the auto hover is not as "magical" as before? 

I haven't really noticed any issues flying with it. I've been flying the Apache and Hind a lot more lately, but jumping back into the Ka-50, I felt like I was pretty easily getting into stable hovers again, giving my Hind fits of jealousy. 

[Schlomo1933]

It is easy but was never magically easy. 
hover works just fine. But u need be shure that route mode is switched off. With route mode on, it’s hard to trimm for zero movement 

[GrEaSeLiTeNiN]

Probably a perception thing - I think when auto hover is done at a higher altitude, it 'feels' more stable (stays in place) then when done near say treetops or buildings as there is a visual reference for actual displacement in the latter.   

[Nialfb]

I'm having the same issue. I bring the helo to a perfect hover, engage Auto-hover and nothing! I have tried LALT+T and I have tried my key binding on my hotas. I changed the key binding and it still won't engage. I have waypoint in the PVI800 turned off. I have always used the autopilot buttons and I have always been able to use Auto-hover. It's only in the last couple of days it's stopped working. I even carried out a repair on DCS Openbeta. I'm getting to the point of disabling the Ka-50 III and reinstalling!

Any ideas? BTW - I only fly my own missions so it isn't a server thing.

Thanks guys.

[Nialfb]

AAARGH!! I'm pulling my hair out here. Today I uninstalled the Ka-50 III using the uninstall tool from the Module Manager. After rebooting my PC I started DCS and had the option to reinstall the Ka-50 III. As far as I can tell, this would be a new install but maybe I'm missing something, maybe some of the old install is left behind and needs to be deleted? As it stands, my auto hover is still not working and it is very frustrating. If anyone else has experienced this it would be good to hear from you.

Thanks

[GrEaSeLiTeNiN]

1 hour ago, Nialfb said:

AAARGH!! I'm pulling my hair out here. Today I uninstalled the Ka-50 III using the uninstall tool from the Module Manager. After rebooting my PC I started DCS and had the option to reinstall the Ka-50 III. As far as I can tell, this would be a new install but maybe I'm missing something, maybe some of the old install is left behind and needs to be deleted? As it stands, my auto hover is still not working and it is very frustrating. If anyone else has experienced this it would be good to hear from you.

Works for me. This is how I tested...

1. Come to a pretty ok OGE hover (GS about 10knts) then engage Auto Hover which also turns Alt Hold on.
2. Work collective until Climb/Descent dial needle is stable at 0 or 9 o'clock (this can require some fine adjustment).
3. Watch GS and Alt. GS stayed between 1-3 knts. Alt was maintained.

But I wondered if Auto Hover really working or was I just trimmed well? Seemed like I did most of the work with the Collective-Climb/Descent thing. So I tested further by...

1. Alt Hold on but turn Auto Hover off: 
GS increased up to 24 knts and the translational lift increased my Alt. Turn Auto Hover back on and GS slowed to 1-3 knts as before and Alt stabilised.

2. Auto Hover on but turn Alt Hold off:
I began descending but GS stayed between 1-3 knts. Turned Alt Hold back on and Alt stabilised and GS continued between 1-3 knts.

So it appears to me Alt Hover does try to maintain a close to nil GS. And when it is turned off, GS increases and Alt Hold loses some control as Alt increases with translational lift. But when the GS eventually stabilises at 24 knts in my test, then the Alt Hold keeps the new Alt. Make sense? 

Edited March 23, 2023 by GrEaSeLiTeNiN

[Schlomo1933]

Are u shure that route mode is switched off ? 

[Nialfb]

Thanks guys.

Schlomo19333 ... I'm absolutely sure route mode is switched off .This is something I have done hundreds of times in the past without any problems. It has only started screwing up over the past couple of days. I can bring it to a hover but when I hit the Auto-hoveI hold in the trim button while I bring the aircraft to a hover. This is so frustrating because as I said, it worked fine until a couple of days ago. I even went to the trouble of deleting the Ka-50 III and deleting the MOD file from the Eagle Dynamics directory and doing a complete new install.

I'm going to create a new mission and do a cold start up and try that - although in most of my missions I have both a hot start and a cold start in case I'm too lazy to do a cold start

[GrEaSeLiTeNiN]

In the top left panel above the pilot's head, the "R ALT HOLD" and "AUTO HOVER" button lights are lit right?
(Btw, my test was an air start in Nevada.)

[Nialfb]

FIXED!

Here is what I did. I made a backup of my control settings - throttle, jopystick and rudder. I then set the controls for my throttle (this is where I have the binding for auto hover) back to the default controls. I tested the auto hover and it workedI I went back to controls and updated the controls using my backup I had taken earlier and it all works fine again!

BTW GrEaSeLiTeNiN - no, the R ALT HOLD and AUTO HOVER buttons were not lit! As I said Auto Hover was not working!