The Rookie Thread

[Mike Busutil]

To be more specific, I am asking if there is more or less of the systems modeled from BS 1 in BS 2. A lot of videos and documents I find are for BS1, can I assume BS2 is the same OR are there systems not finished or just not modeled in BS2?

[cichlidfan]

For the purposes of training there is no practical difference between BS1 and BS2.

[Bucic]

One of the most interesting things that are not modeled is APU won't 'get fried' if you stop it before cutting the fuel supply. At least this is what one of real mechanics* wrote.

 

*working with Russian helis for years.

 

I've just found a professionally prepared Check List for BS while tidying up my disk. It's:

FM-Ka50-CL by 2GvSAP

IMO you should check it out. Also I think the official wiki links to more resources like this. I mentioned the wiki in Rookie pilots - Quick Intro thread

[Pigwiggen]

Installation challenge

 

I've already installed and am using MS 2004 and MS FS-X. Both are running successfully. Yesterday I installed and activated a new copy of Black Shark and all appeared to go smoothly.

However when trying to run the sim I found the splash screen was basically white - no top down view of the Shark in the background - and the 'clock face buttons' had no titling alongside them but were simply circular buttons. Furthermore when I hit 'Esc' to close it down everything just froze.

Hence my cry for help here today.

Any advice would be most welcome. Thanks.

[Rusty_M]

I'd start by uninstalling and re-installing the game. Also, there's a patch you'd want to install to get the latest version (v1.2 I think, but can't check at the moment)

 

Also, ensure you install the latest DX9 (even if you have DX10 or 11, it can help, and is very unlikely to harm)

[Hyphara]

Hi all, i purchased the BS2 upgrade yesterday and i really like what i'm seeing so far. However, my cockpit seems to look slightly different from the pics in the manual and some knobs and instruments aren't as crisp as they are in the A10C. Did i miss a step in my upgrade or is this just the way the BS2 pit looks?

 

Thank you

[roob]

I think the pictures in the manual, or most of them, are from BS1. IIRC the cockpit isn't remade for BS2 to be better looking either, keeping in mind the Ka-50 was released in 2008 while the A-10C came out in 2011.

 

You can try this mod http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=97425 for a better looking shark :)

[Hyphara]

Copy, thank you very much

[Humvee28]

Hello!

 

Still pretty new to the Shark, and i encountered a little Problem :

 

I was on the Shooting Range, targeting some Vehicles. All of a sudden the Shkval shows a

 

big diagonal Cross and it slews away. Resetted the Shkval and started targeting again and..

 

you name it..the same Problem occours. I have no Clue what it is, and a look over the

 

Manual brought me not closer to the Solution. Can anyone enlighten me please?

[roob]

Can anyone enlighten me please?

 

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=81719

[Humvee28]

Thanks roob. This sounds similar to my Problem, but no one mentioned a big X over the

 

Shkval Screen like i get when it happens. :huh:

[Mike Busutil]

Doesn't the "X" mean your heli is pointed outside of the line of sight of the gun looking at the target?

[Humvee28]

The only hint about the "X" in the Manual is that it is an Indicator when you´re within the minimum Weapons Range or in other Words : "launch prohibited".

 

But that makes no Sense for me at all. I was lined up to the Target (straight ahead), within the

Weapons Range, i start to lase the Target, and the Problem occurs ("X" in the Shkval, and slew goes crazy).

 

I haven´t even locked the Target, only lased the Distance to Target for the Vikhr.

 

Seems like i´ve met the crazy Shkval now too. :joystick:

[roob]

But that makes no Sense for me at all. I was lined up to the Target (straight ahead), within the

Weapons Range, i start to lase the Target, and the Problem occurs ("X" in the Shkval, and slew goes crazy).

 

I haven´t even locked the Target, only lased the Distance to Target for the Vikhr.

 

It's (most likely) affiliated with the Shkval problem. In my personal experience, when it goes "crazy" it kind of looks like it's trying to lock a fly on the physical screen covering the optics and obivously the the gun can't possibly fire at that or at that angle and thus the X appears :)

[Damleda]

Hi all, Damleda here. This is my first community posting over these games, which is a little bit of a surprise in some respects (explanation later). I have owned Black Shark and A-10 for a while. messed about with them. Feel that I can fly the shark well, and, surprise, surprise, never had any trouble with trimming/autopilot, which I thought always made perfect sense. The thing is, ED released BS2 as a full priced game, and it really cheesed me off. Couldn't keep away however, and now I'm back, with DCS world, and A10 and BS modules installed (I couldn't resist sale on getgames after seeing the new world graphics on A10 module).

 

Having said all of this above, I have one major issue which I have always had with the game and I cannot find an answer despite searching heavily for it. How do I get my ABRIS/AMMS in English, whilst keeping the cockpit and hud in russian. I would actually learn the ABRIS in Russian, but my manual lists all the cockpit controls in Russian, but fails to give me any russian ABRIS info, and I can only go through it so far before getting confused and having to switch back to full English cockpit. Many, many thanks in advance, and I look forward to working with the modders out there on any KA-50-2/KA-52 mods that might be on the cards. Two player-single chopper flight was by far the best way to play Apache/Hind Comanche/Havoc, although they were games so it might be different in a simulator

[flanker0ne]

Swap the texture inside the compressed file.

[Damleda]

That was so obvious. play english and texture swap eng cockpit. Sorry :-( Brain freeze.....

 

Many thanks.

Edited January 18, 2013 by Damleda

[crassus]

Rotor Pitch Indicator = Death

 

Hi.

 

I am practicing some basic flying,e.g. level turns, and ascent and descent, but it's in ascents that , as simple as they are, I am finding a lot of trouble, like dying.

 

In flight I nose forward just a bit and I tap (just tap) the Numpad +/ raise collective key and the durned Rotor Pitch Indicator keeps sounding. I tap B to acknowledge it, and then my bird starts wobbling then disintegrates in mid-air.

 

As a novice to helo sims, I am at a loss to even begin researching what I'm doing wrong. That said, I have one theory: I am flying with four B-8V20 pods attached. Could my having ordnance attached be the cause? On something as simple as climbing?

[Ich666]

How fast are you? What you describe is what usually happens when your rotor blades collide mid-air. Im also pretty sure that the warning that goes off is the IAS warning, which is there to warn you when youre flying too fast. You shouldnt do any hectic maneuvering in the Ka-50, as aprupt changes of pitch/roll/collective will cause your rotors to intersect.

[ZaltysZ]

Hi.

 

I am practicing some basic flying,e.g. level turns, and ascent and descent, but it's in ascents that , as simple as they are, I am finding a lot of trouble, like dying.

 

In flight I nose forward just a bit and I tap (just tap) the Numpad +/ raise collective key and the durned Rotor Pitch Indicator keeps sounding. I tap B to acknowledge it, and then my bird starts wobbling then disintegrates in mid-air.

 

As a novice to helo sims, I am at a loss to even begin researching what I'm doing wrong. That said, I have one theory: I am flying with four B-8V20 pods attached. Could my having ordnance attached be the cause? On something as simple as climbing?

 

It is not Rotor Pitch Indicator. What flashes and sounds is Rotor RPM push-light. Never acknowledge (mute) it. It sounds for a good reason: your rotor RPM are dangerously low or too high.

 

In your case, RPM are too low, because your blade angle is too high (too much collective) and engines are unable to spin rotors fast enough. There are 2 common mistakes rookie can make: way too much collective or throttles are left on IDLE instead of AUTO position. There is a third one too: rotor is switched to low RPM mode used for fast descents, but this usually happens because of control conflicts, rather than because of rookie mistake.

[Yurgon]

In flight I nose forward just a bit and I tap (just tap) the Numpad +/ raise collective key and the durned Rotor Pitch Indicator keeps sounding. I tap B to acknowledge it, and then my bird starts wobbling then disintegrates in mid-air.

 

I just tried to fly with the keyboard. Damn, that's hard!

 

But the bird didn't show the behavior you described. I could more or less fine-tune the collective movement and even achieved something close to a landing.

 

You should upload a track of your flight.

 

To do this, you should first of all replicate the problem in a short flight, then quit after the problem is showing. In the debriefing screen, hit "Save track" and save it to some place on your computer where you can find it (like "My documents").

 

Then come back here. When replying, click "Manage Attachments" below the editor and upload the previously saved track (if you use the simple editor, you may have to "Go advanced" first). Feel free to ask any questions about uploading if you encounter any problems.

 

Please also note which version you are flying (BS1 1.0.2 standalone, BS2 1.1.1.1 standalone and BS2 1.2.2 for DCS World are the most common ones).

 

As a novice to helo sims, I am at a loss to even begin researching what I'm doing wrong. That said, I have one theory: I am flying with four B-8V20 pods attached. Could my having ordnance attached be the cause? On something as simple as climbing?

 

Nope. The chopper is easier to fly without external payload, but it should definitely not break apart during a climb even when fully loaded. :)

[crassus]

Attached is the track.

 

But I now see in the Rotor RPM Indicator (I was mixing up its name with that of the Rotor RPM warning push-light), that my RPMs were falling below the minimum.

 

@ZaltysZ. You were correct in that I was applying too much collective. Until I was able to just now map my joystick's slider to the collective, I've been having to use either the keyboard or the buttons on my j'stick to manipulate the collective.

 

@Yurgon: Yeah, using the keyboard to manipulate the important controls (collective and cyclic) just doesn't work well enough.

 

Thanks, everyone for your help.

rotorRPMtroubles.trk

[Yurgon]

But I now see in the Rotor RPM Indicator (I was mixing up its name with that of the Rotor RPM warning push-light), that my RPMs were falling below the minimum.

 

I just watched the track in DCS World 1.2.2.7570. Advance note: Replay is not very reliable, it's quite possible that what I witnessed is not what originally happened Edit: It obviously isn't, see next post.

 

So, here's what I saw: Vertical take-off with full collective. After climbing a bit, nose down pitch was applied. Then some more nose down pitch, and the chopper just crashed into the runway nose first.

 

As ZaltysZ already suggested: With full collective, your blade pitch angle is waaay too high. The engines can't deliver enough power to maintain rotor RPM, that's why the RPM warning zebra light goes off (including the audible beep beep beep). However, the reason for the crash, as I witnessed it, was simply pitching down too much.

 

The solution, in any case, is quite simple: Don't apply too much collective. On the overhead panel, there are warning lights for the engine: LH PWR SET LIM and RH PWR SET LIM (LH = Left Hand engine, RH = Right Hand engine). As soon as these come on (they do almost instantly in your track), you should gently lower the collective a bit until they both come off.

 

What you should do instead is to gain forward speed by gently pitching the nose down. The Ka-50s optimal climb speed is 150 kph IIRC (that is: at 150kph forward airspeed, the chopper can climb faster than at any other forward airspeed). In a hover, your maximum climb rate is very limited.

 

Another bit of advice, as Ich666 already mentioned: don't be hectic on the controls. Do everything gently and smoothly.

 

One of the best videos about basic maneuvering I've watched so far:

Edited January 23, 2013 by Yurgon

[Yurgon]

Okay, new post because editing the previous one wouldn't make too much sense.

 

I also watched the track in BS2 1.1.1.1 - same result. And I just watched the track in 1.0.2 - plays out differently. Remember how I asked you to note the version number? Thanks for wasting 10 minutes of my life.

 

Now, back on topic. In 1.0.2, take-off with (almost) full collective is successful, and after take-off you're flying a slow right hand turn. It actually looks pretty good except for the fact that you keep the collective raised to the max for almost the entire flight (note "LH and RH POWER SET LIM" on the overhead panel in the first screenshot). When the airspeed exceeds some 230kph, the rotor blades intersect. Check the screenshots, especially the third one: The advancing blade on the lower rotor disc gets tilted up so heavily that it intersects the retreating blade on the upper disc. Et voila, rotor blade salad. :)

 

The solution remains the same as noted in the previous post: Lower the collective. It's quite possible to fly 300kph without blade intersection. When nearing that speed, the IAS MAX warning will go off on the left hand warning panel, accompanied by a high pitched beep.

 

Oh, and always a fun thing: Climb to 3000m or higher. Then, drop collective, pitch down to a vertical descent. You can easily go 450kph without rotor blade intersection. The tricky part is to recover from the dive. :D

[IonicRipper]

I just bought the game (few hours ago) and decided to try taking off without any help. I got it off the ground just fine so i started flying in a straight line. "How hard can it be" i thought. Then THAT happened. Exactly like you said Yurgon. How clueless i was about what just happened hahaha. I'm glad I now know why it happened.