Need Advice on right way to Enter a Hover?

[Kilo_60]

Seems everywhere I turn I'm getting some different information on the best way to enter a hover and utilize the auto-hover to keep the bird as stable as possible.

 

 

Do you try to enter as stable a hover as possible yourself before hitting auto-hover (i know you ideally want to be below 10kts) or do you bang in the auto-hover from straight and level slow speed flight?

 

Also I'm having difficulty trimming for hover, it seems....

 

In auto-hover do you treat "trim" the same way and should you enable alt-hold mode.

 

It seems that if I'm in a stable hover and I try to retrim to turn to a new facing to select a new target I'm getting into an uncontrollable slip or spin.

 

Is it recommending to disable pitch control in AP to get your nose down to fire weapons? What's the best options for targeting and fighting from a hover position?

 

Basically I really need a hovering tutorial? :doh:

[spyda]

you want to slow right down to under 30km/hr than engage the auto hover. the copter will trim for the hover.

 

for changing the nose direction i use the rudder softly and remember to counter the rudder when centering the heli's direction when turning this way. the trick here is to be smooth and gentle, i leave the AP on.

 

if I'm going to do a rocket attack i maintain forward flight (if u have trouble aiming with the rockets try turning on the director mode just for the rocket attack)

Edited April 21, 2009 by spyda

[th3flyboy]

Also, remember that if you activate Auto Hover too soon, you will go out of control and crash.

[sobek]

Do you try to enter as stable a hover as possible yourself before hitting auto-hover (i know you ideally want to be below 10kts) or do you bang in the auto-hover from straight and level slow speed flight?

 

In general it would be best to enter the auto-hover at below 10km/h, however, i would advise you to ditch autohover altogether and hover by hand. It really becomes second nature once you got the hang of trimming.

 

Also I'm having difficulty trimming for hover, it seems....

 

In auto-hover do you treat "trim" the same way and should you enable alt-hold mode.

Yes you have to trim the bird, ideally to a complete hover, because the AP has only 20% authority on the controls, so if any axis is trimmed more then 20% out of center, the AP cannot maintain a stable hover.

 

It seems that if I'm in a stable hover and I try to retrim to turn to a new facing to select a new target I'm getting into an uncontrollable slip or spin.

Sounds to me like you trim with the rudder engaged, so then your rudder axis will be trimmed as well of course. If rudder deflection becomes more than 20% from zero, AP cannot counter the turn tendency and the bird will continue to spin. Monitor the axis input window when this happens, for sure your rudder axis will be off center.

 

 

Is it recommending to disable pitch control in AP to get your nose down to fire weapons? What's the best options for targeting and fighting from a hover position?

It is not permitted to turn the AP off in flight unless in emergency situations (in the real black shark).

 

You can only engage from a hover with the vikhrs and gun, engaging with rockets is done while strafing over the target.

 

So basically to engage a stable (non auto) hover from straight and stable forward flight i do this:

 

Pitch the nose up, depending on how fast i want to stop.

 

Trim (only if i'm not going for a fast stop) and let the AC decelerate all by itself.

 

Around 10 km/h i start to lower the nose (again depending on how hard i pulled, the harder, the earlier and faster you have to pitch down again).

Trim with the nose just slightly over the horizon.

 

Watch the ground speed and direction indicator (the line that shows in which direction and how fast you are moving), as well as the ground out of your left window(very important!) and correct movement with small and slow control inputs. At this stage, basically all you have to do is refine the trimmed hover position to stop the shark from moving, the rest will be done by the AP.

 

This procedure takes a little getting used to, but again, once you have it down, your skill in flying this thing will greatly increase and landing should be quite easy.

[Yskonyn]

How much altitude do you gain when agressively decellerating? Even with thottle closed the aircraft has so much energy to bleed from high speed cruise that I seem to be unable to hold altitude properly when performing an agressive stop.

[EvilBivol-1]

Here's what the magic FAQ says:

 

Q: What’s the easiest way to initiate a hover?

[159th_Viper]

In an extreme stop (from Max IAS Warning), ie dumping the collective, pointing her nose to the sun and getting her stopped in a coupla secs adds approx 50m - again only for a coupla secs dependant on the collective input.

[Yskonyn]

Thanks! I guess I still need some practise then. :P

[sobek]

In an extreme stop (from Max IAS Warning), ie dumping the collective, pointing her nose to the sun and getting her stopped in a coupla secs adds approx 50m - again only for a coupla secs dependant on the collective input.

 

Can you do it without rotor RPM decay? If so, what's your secret? :)

[159th_Viper]

Can you do it without rotor RPM decay? If so, what's your secret? :)

 

Oh Hell I don't know - you tell me :D

 

Track

 

Truth be told, I'm a 'Seat-of-the-Pants' kinda flyer, only paying attention to the instruments when they start shouting at me......so as to your question - no idea. All I know is that me throwing her around gets the job done :D

 

Back to the original question, I find an about-turn (180) stop to be even more effective and tends to dump less altitude (see second stop on track).

[muamshai]

Here is how I learnt to hover.

 

1. Your speed should be in HUD. If no speed in HUD, no auto-hover. Speed in HUD means that flight computer is not sleeping (correct me if I am wrong)

2. The vertical line aka piper should be visible when you go below 50 Km/hr

3. All 3 autopilots should be engaged. You may turn off heading autopilot if required.

4. Press auto-hover button.

[Brach]

I'm with Viper and Sobek on this one.

 

I normally don't hit the auto hover until I establish a stable hover myself. The auto hover just serves for me to not have to worry about flying while I zoom into the shkval screen to pick off targets.

 

Turning to a target that way becomes very easy also. I just momentarily disengage auto hover, jaw towards the area I want to engage and re-engage auto hover. The "auto turn to target" option for me doesn't always seem to work properly (must be a bug) since it doesn't center the nose of the copter on the target, basically forcing you to jaw the helicopter a bit anyway before you can get a clear shot.

 

Really, just keep trimming whenever you see fit, the button is there to be pressed, so press it all the times you feel the need to. Heck, it's even for free. :P

Seriously though, trim until you are satisfied and when you get to slower airspeeds make small adjustments.

 

I messed up a few missions before I got the hang of it, but I can assure you, under the pressure of battle, one does get the hang of it really fast. At least I did. :lol:

 

And don't worry, we all crashed this bird a ton of times at the beginning before we actually managed to fly it a bit smoothly. And still, I have to admit, I sometimes manage to loose track of something and crash over the most stupid things ever. One just keeps learning with this game. Gotta love that one. :D

 

Just keep practicing mate, I'm sure you'll get there also. :smilewink:

[Skydoc]

 

The "auto turn to target" option for me doesn't always seem to work properly (must be a bug) since it doesn't center the nose of the copter on the target, basically forcing you to jaw the helicopter a bit anyway before you can get a clear shot.

 

Completely agree. There is no easy way to do this, just loads of practice. The turn to target seems to be effected by your power settings (creating torque issues) and potentially even wind. If you trim your pedals just slightly off center to get your first shot centered, it tends to be good for the rest of your target in that general direction. Another option is to turn to the "auto-target" switch - the one that keeps you in parameter, forget the official name - then you can fire missles when they are not DEAD center and as long as you stay within 7 klicks or so within 15 degrees of center, the seeker will still take direction and find the target. I have had to do that on some very hasty attacks where I dont have time to diddle around with trim.

 

One of the issues not yet mentioned in this thread about hovering is the deadly vortex ring. I have fallen into that trap too often. So be sure you have your descent rate under control before you get to the killing business, or you will just die. There is some airframe shudder that warns you about it, but it is often too late when you are low altitude.

 

For practice, consider doing quickstops over your runway. Its a good coordination exercise. Once comfortable with those straight ahead, to quick stop 180s - where you enter downwind and then turn into the wind as you decelerate.