KA-50 Collective

[Wolf8312]

Have to say I am fantastically satisfied with winwings KA50 collective. Love the quality, feel, and immersion it brings to helicopter flights in VR and as one who has always loved helis most of all (but somehow, using a throttle, they always still felt somehow secondary to planes) it is a transformative experience.

I would say the extension is a must however, as with that one is very much aware of pulling up/down, whereas without, it would surely feel more like using a slightly longer (backwards/forwards) throttle or gearstick. I never inverted my throttle for helis as I actually found doing so more immersion breaking (and dangerous), but with the WW (chair mounted) there's a definate sense of the obvious: pull up to go up and down to go down. It just feels like flying a helicopter! 

I find the safety guard works well in a dual roll as arm rest (I actually use it primarly for this) but I also found that although stiction and droop was a problem at first (though manageble with the armrest/safey guard) I'm not sure there's any real need for grease or counter balancing.

Granted, I've never flown a real helicopter (which in some ways in VR is probably a blessing, as one is not comparing to the real thing) so I'm sure it may be a different matter to those who have, but I personally found that if you fly with it for a while it becomes smoother over time on its own. I heard from another user to keep the stick loose at first and once it had been worn in a bit, to tighten it up. Well that seemed to be good advice!

The only droop I really get now is at the highest setting which may, for all I know, be realistic anyway as you don't really want to keep the AC at max lift anyhow. If one pulls the stick to the highest setting (which is not max) it will pretty much (for me now) hold in any postion all the way back down again as one lowers the collective. When pulling up however it seems to lock only in stages (it locks after sinking back down a little). However I have to say the safety guard means that it is no problem to hold onto the collective for extended periods (though in VR I don't fly ridiculously long missions anyhow) though of course perhaps this is cheating! Part of this may be muscle memory kicking in as well, as now I am accustomed to the amount of force needed to move the stick and can apply it in a smoother and more consistent manner.

Well anyhoo layman review, but highly recommened if you are into helicopters or thinking of getting into them.

Also have to rave, that DCS is looking fantastically good these days in VR, under the right lighting conditions (I like to use the mission editor and fly at dawn or sunset). Open XR toolkit seems to have allowed me to lower MSSA and increase performance nicely as well!

 

 

Edited January 15, 2023 by Wolf8312

[Wolf8312]

Just to add to this. Regarding Stiction and drooping I’d honestly recommend -before applying grease or balances- to wear the collective in a bit first and then decide! I have to say that since writing this review the stiction and drooping issues have greatly improved and the collective is now not only tight but also smooth. Just to warn potential users: I’m glad I didn’t take my piece apart or add grease etc! I honestly don’t think it’s necessary as once broken in, it feels as natural as the flight stick! Then again I’m not comparing to the real thing so YMMV!

Edited January 21, 2023 by Wolf8312