Flying From The CP/G Seat

[Johnny Dioxin]

I am unable to fly helicopters any more due to health issues with knees & hips - I own the Apache since release but have never been able to fly it. Does George enable me to do the CP/G and just let him get on with all the flying, without me having to touch the pedals at all? That would be awesome. (edit - I know I have to direct him, that isn't an issue)

Same goes for the Hind, really.

Edited February 7, 2024 by Johnny Dioxin

[LorenLuke]

He's not always smart, reactive, or rock steady, but in short, yes you can. 

The bulk of the George/Petrovich nodes can be done from the flight mode, which basically boils down to 'increase/decrease speed' in stages (64 is 0/40/70/90/120kn/max; don't remember the Hind's), 'increase/decrease altitude' via tens of feet or in meters in the Hind, and then 'point the bird where I'm looking', with some miscellaneous  binds scattered around, e.g. 'line up on my cursor' for the hind to shoot a missile, never mind controls for the hover modes.

Landings might be touchy, but George/Petro is an adequate pilot for over 90% of situations, and certainly far from a terrible toll to utilize in the front seat.

[Johnny Dioxin]

Great, thanks - was worried all that money was gone down the pan - and it means I can keep flying the rotaries. Time to get stuck into those manuals, then!

[GCRev]

This could be empty advice depending on what kind of gear you fly with, but I used to have a HOTAS setup (Logitech X56) that had a rotary axis dial on the throttle under the thumb (a potentiometer, not an encoder). This was before I had even gotten pedals, and before I did the DCS thing and dropped a pretty penny on VPC gear. I got really used to flying the Apache with no pedals, using the thumb dial to control anti-torque. In a way, it was kinda nice because it didn't auto-center, so I never needed to "trim" it.

These days I only fly solo from the gunner seat of the Apache anyway since relying on George for flying and fumbling with the interface is cumbersome IMO, plus it usually eats up a hat switch that I'd rather have bound. I also find the gunner seat more engaging because you can do anything the pilot can do* plus everything the gunner can do.

[MrReynolds]

+1 for X-56.

That thumb rotaty dial is AMAZING for rudder.

I've had some top notch VKB pedals for a couple of weeks now.  They are "better" (AND WELL WORTH THE MONEY) - - but I still prefer the dial. {at the moment, still building muscle memory}.

I exclusivly fly in the front seat.

Navigate manually -> George when I know I'm in a safe area / fencing in / looking for targets -> Manual to find the firing position then -> George for when I'm firing -> manual when the inevitable "laser ranging" gets shouted at me!!!

LOVE IT!

 

[Sacarino111]

On 2/7/2024 at 11:35 AM, Johnny Dioxin said:

I am unable to fly helicopters any more due to health issues with knees & hips - I own the Apache since release but have never been able to fly it. Does George enable me to do the CP/G and just let him get on with all the flying, without me having to touch the pedals at all? That would be awesome. (edit - I know I have to direct him, that isn't an issue)

Same goes for the Hind, really.

 

Hi.

Sad to hear about your physical problems, but it is almost possible to do a complete mission from the front seat.

And, of course, ASAP, find a human pilot and fly CP/G exclusivelly, it is a blast, you will enjoy it to the max. I have flown as gunner in the Hind only, but the experience was really absoving and fullfilling.

Saludos.

Saca111

[aaronwhite]

Another thought I had, you might reach out to one of the mods and ask if they can put you in touch with Wags via email or something and he can offer some advise. I believe he's been flying everything in game with a twist rudder stick, and watching some of his videos flying the helicopters, he appears to have become pretty proficient at it. Might be worth something to look into to help you get to continue flying while they work on George. 

[LuseKofte]

VIRPIL stick also got twist rudder and are quite nice to fly chopper with. AH 64 got a nice force trim too and I guess you can trim rudder also if you go into settings allowing for it. 

[LorenLuke]

I'll also vouch for a VirPil twist stick. It's been the only thing I've used (current arrangement has no room for pedals) and it's not really been a bother to me. 

Though it may not work for you, I use partial Y saturation and have rudder trim enabled for flight. It takes some getting used to, but I've made it work well enough, and perhaps it'll work for you, also.

[Johnny Dioxin]

Thanks for the comments. I do have two twist sticks, but both are fairly basic and quite old (though still in good working condx). My HOTAS is Virpil T50 CM2, and I didn't know they did a twisting one, too - must take a look at that. It's been a very long time since I last used a twisting stick for helicopters - probably Gunship! I didn't think the DCS rotaries would be flyable with that type of controller, but it seems they can, then.

I'll give it a go with one of my older sticks and if I get on okay I'll look at the VPC shop.

 

Edited February 11, 2024 by Johnny Dioxin

[Floyd1212]

I wonder if a left-handed Alpha twist-stick on their collective would be better than using a twist-stick on the cyclic?

I feel like separating it from the cyclic might give you more precise control, and you hand on the collective isn’t moving around much otherwise. 

[LorenLuke]

Alternatively, if they have two thumbsticks (CM3 Throttle and a joystick), the pilot only really has need for one as a cursor control. The left-right axis on the other (with proper curves, saturation, and practice) could be a workable option, as well.

[Johnny Dioxin]

I decided to go for the Constellation Alpha - it apparently has a short twist axis which may be better for me than a standard one. At least for DCS helicopters.

I tried using an analogue PoV hat for rudder control before and didn't get on with it. I suppose I could use a modifier button to switch the stick between roll and yaw, like in Elite - but that would probably get me into trouble on occasion.

[LorenLuke]

13 hours ago, Johnny Dioxin said:

I decided to go for the Constellation Alpha - it apparently has a short twist axis which may be better for me than a standard one. At least for DCS helicopters.

I tried using an analogue PoV hat for rudder control before and didn't get on with it. I suppose I could use a modifier button to switch the stick between roll and yaw, like in Elite - but that would probably get me into trouble on occasion.

I can vouch that a Connie Alpha (with WarBRD base) and CM3 Throttle is what I use in the sim (and a head tracker). I won't say I'm a top tier helo pilot, but I can say in my experience it's 100% workable as flight hardware for the module.

[Johnny Dioxin]

It arrived just now - very nice bit of kit. Only issue is that it's a little cramped for my large hands, especially compared to the Mongoos, which is well spaced out. The Connie is just fine for using the axes and left side hats, but it's a struggle for me with the middle and right two.

Probably just take a bit of getting used to. Happy with it, overall, anyway - before plugging it in. Seeya in a few hours....

[Thundersmoke]

Just some food for thought based on a recent discovery / breakthrough I had this weekend.

For $10, Voice Attack, the free VAICOM Pro plugin, and a community AH-64 profile allows you to do a LOT with just voice commands.  I know this is well known around these parts, and I've been familiar with Voice Attack since back in the Elite Dangerous / Star Citizen days.

But I had no idea it was this capable now, especially for DCS.

Cold start, manipulating MFDs, directing George as pilot, weapons, entering waypoints, directing wingmen, the works.  I started just casually looking at it for a few minutes, and within the span of an evening I was down the rabbit hole and blown away by the capability.

Within a couple hours of installing and reading the guides, I was able to hop into the cold start training mission, cold start the bird, move to front seat, and direct pilot George to take off, navigate around, announce my inbound arrival at a different airbase, add said airbase as a waypoint, fly there, and direct George to land.

All with my voice!

During certain portions, you'll be chatty cathy, but it's really fun.

Quote

"50 feet higher."

"Come right 15 degrees."

"Speed up."

"George hover"

"Master Arm On"

"Give me guns CPG"

"Acquisition source gunner"

"George turn to me"

(destroy poor defenseless train for target practice) 

"Type Carlie Mike”
“Ident Foxtrot Alpha”
“Free Golf Kilo Uniform”
“Grid Kilo Mike”
“East 9197”
“North 7257”
“Altitude 148”
“Enter coordinates now”

"Direct Waypoint 2"

"George fly the route"

"Select Kolkhi"

"ATC Inbound"

Then to land, you slow down, use "Flight" mode to get close to the LZ, then use "Hover" mode and "Slide Left," "Slide X" commands to get where you want, and lower altitude down to 0 and he'll set it down.

Just wanted to offer the thought in case you wanted to mix in some voice commands to take some pressure off of the HOTAS work.  

Edited February 22, 2024 by Thundersmoke