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Posted

I recently got the Huey and Hind during the sale. Came from flying the UH60 mod. With the UH60 and the Hind I get a sense of inertia when maneuvering. Flying straight and level is a breeze, occasionally have to shift the collective a tiny bit but it feels steady. Get into the Huey and keeping the thing in level flight is a nightmare - the slightest collective input or nose aspect change and it either wants to become part of the space program or visit the mole people. It's like there is no weight to the aircraft, it bobs up and down and needs constant collective inputs to keep a steady altitude (I have no issue with keeping it pointed in the right direction, just altitude). Is this actually how a Heuy flies?

 

Any pointers on making this easier or what I might be doing wrong? Or is this just how it is?

Posted (edited)

From most probable to least probable:

Double check all your axis inputs. Then triple check them. Make sure there's absolutely no binding that you don't 100% need. Check for other input devices bound to any of the flight control axes, make sure your toe brakes, your XBox controller, or maybe your racing pedals, aren't inputting anything on cyclic, collective, and so on.

Disable and remove all mods, if you have any.

Run a DCS repair (later today, when the update drops and you've updated to the latest DCS version, you can run a repair from the new DCS Launcher).

If all of that doesn't help, rename C:\Users\{Your Windows Username}\Saved Games\DCS and check again with the most barebone config (you can later delete the newly created DCS folder in Saved Games and rename your old one back, that will restore all of your configuration).

If the issue persists, please post a short track to showcase the problem, or post a video (a track is much preferred!), so that we can take a look. After all, it might just be that you're not yet used to the Huey flight model.

Edited by Yurgon
  • Like 1
Posted

You should consider that the other two helicopter have almost 3 times the weight of the huey and in addition to that they have stability assistance systems and the huey not.

  • Like 6
Posted

I'm with tobi...the Huey is a very light aircraft compared to the UH60 and Hind. The Huey also doesn't have any form of SCAS. You have to be hands on the cyclic and collective at all times to stay stable. Every twitch of the cyclic in the pitch direction requires a collective correction (and vice versa).

What weight were you flying at? Try the Huey with 20% fuel and no weapons vs a full load of fuel and weapons. It's almost a different aircraft! In multiplayer servers, you can overload it by a few thousand pounds if you are taking off into the wind from a hilltop FARP and the area to your right is clear. Full left pedal and try to build up speed in ground effect. Then hope you can burn off enough fuel before you land and drop your troops.

  • Like 3
Posted

I think OP is caught by latest FM. Huey has a lot of power, too much in forward flight, so by comparing it with how much collective movement is needed on other helicopters, I'm guessing overcorrection is problem. 

OP, just give it more time until muscle memory develops.

  • Like 4
Posted

I think overcorrections mention earlier is a case here. I actually flown a couple of Bell helicopter with the stick while not allowed to touch the collective. But that was a safety measure. The pilot said it was not used while flying. 
You hold it but only use it when slowing down and adjusting when flying you almost fly it like fixed wing. The Huey according to Vietnam vets should have stick movement within a quarter coin.  
Simulator experience are much about the hardware you use. A good smooth stick do not require axis tweak. A stick with detent often do. 

Posted

Ok so I'm starting to believe this is a skill issue and getting used to the weight (aside from what I mentioned earlier about flight it's also really weird to land because it doesn't "settle" like the others do). In relation to forward flight though I'm even more confused now, one reply says every small stick movement requires constant correction with the collective then another says don't touch the collective. 🤷‍♂️

Posted

Never needed varying collective input in the DCS Huey - not even during hovering (in terms of constant input corrections). I set exactly what I need for collective, and that’s it. Only need to regulate it, when slowing down or accelerating.
If you do decide to use the collective constantly, like it is perhaps necessary in other Helos and you are used to that kind of varying input, than you end up in an endless correction loop.

Posted
1 hour ago, Squiggs said:

Ok so I'm starting to believe this is a skill issue and getting used to the weight (aside from what I mentioned earlier about flight it's also really weird to land because it doesn't "settle" like the others do). In relation to forward flight though I'm even more confused now, one reply says every small stick movement requires constant correction with the collective then another says don't touch the collective. 🤷‍♂️

Collective correction is needed if you are changing speed to maintain your altitude.

That post is a bit exagerating with "every twitch in pitch", but premise is sound. If you are flying level at some speed, reducing speed will get you climbing and vice versa. 

For now, set your power and use only cyclic to get you level. Speed will stabilise on its own. In fact, that's how I like to lead formation. Set power and leave it. If I need to climb, I just  reduce my speed (how much reduction depends on how much I need to climb). That way, my wingman does not need to guess how much power he needs after initial correction to get into his position. Once set, all he needs to do is to match my altitude with cyclic, speed will be the same on its own.

IMO, best way to get hang of this is to practice, practice, practice. It will get easier.

  • Like 2
Posted
2 hours ago, Squiggs said:

In relation to forward flight though I'm even more confused now, one reply says every small stick movement requires constant correction with the collective then another says don't touch the collective. 🤷‍♂️

In forward level flight, you shouldn't need much collective movement. Something as simple as a level turn may require you to increase collective, if you intend to keep the speed up.

When I started flying virtual helicopters, I think I used the collective waaaay too much and that made it hard to achieve some kind of stable flight. That's especially true in conventional helicopters where adding or reducing the collective will lead to a certain amount of torque-change, which in turn will require a bit of pedal adjustment (when contrasted to my first helicopter, the Ka-50 with its coaxial rotors).

So as a general rule, you can make your life a lot easier if you set the collective to a sensible setting and then use the cyclic to achieve level flight. If you want to fly faster, pull more collective and adjust pedals and cyclic accordingly. If you want to slow down, push collective down a bit, and so on.

admiki's advice for formation flying is also really good and works just as well when flying alone.

All that said, if you feel like sharing a short track of you trying to achieve a specific task, like flying level and then climbing 1000 feet in a 90° turn while also slowing down by 30 knots, or whatever else you'd like to do, we can take a closer look at it and give some more specific advice. That would also help us to figure out if there are undesired axis bindings or if there's something fundamentally wrong with the flight model of your Huey.

  • Like 1
Posted

The responsive handling is what many people like about the Huey. The Hind is a chonker of a helo, and so is the Blackhawk. There are several conditions at which a fully loaded Hind needs a runway to take off. Huey? There's a reason they never bothered to give it wheels. It's just a matter of practice.

  • Like 1
Posted (edited)
20 hours ago, Squiggs said:

Ok so I'm starting to believe this is a skill issue and getting used to the weight (aside from what I mentioned earlier about flight it's also really weird to land because it doesn't "settle" like the others do). In relation to forward flight though I'm even more confused now, one reply says every small stick movement requires constant correction with the collective then another says don't touch the collective. 🤷‍♂️

Hey @Squiggs there's a lot of good information in here from all the other posters, so I wont elaborate on any thing they may have said.

One thing I could suggest is jump in multiplayer and see if anyone will take you for a ride. Have a look at what is going on with the instruments (altrhough as beginners we should be looking outside, which is what you'll be doing 99% of the time anyway)

Also, if you're in single player, just practice up and down the runway, take-off land half way, go back again. (And one thing I try not to do, a straight in approach if I can help it. I always try and do a right turn to touch down)

If you see me on-line feel free to jump in.

HB

Edited by Helles Belle
  • Like 1

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Posted

I have determined that my issue was two fold:

1. Just getting used to a lighter helicopter.

2. Because I was still waiting for my chair to turn up in the mail, I had the throttle sitting on my lap which definitely did not help with fine adjustments. Between mounting it to my chair and loosening the friction just a touch it feels much more controllable.

 

I still find it much easier to fly low where I can use visual references to tell if I am gaining or losing altitude. Higher up only having the VVI to rely on I still struggle. I have to work on trimming more (I tend to fly "manually" all the time).

 

Thanks for all the pointers guys 🙂

  • Like 1
Posted
On 7/10/2024 at 6:06 AM, Squiggs said:

I have determined that my issue was two fold:

1. Just getting used to a lighter helicopter.

2. Because I was still waiting for my chair to turn up in the mail, I had the throttle sitting on my lap which definitely did not help with fine adjustments. Between mounting it to my chair and loosening the friction just a touch it feels much more controllable.

 

I still find it much easier to fly low where I can use visual references to tell if I am gaining or losing altitude. Higher up only having the VVI to rely on I still struggle. I have to work on trimming more (I tend to fly "manually" all the time).

 

Thanks for all the pointers guys 🙂

Trimming was a game-changer for me.....especially after transitioning from forward flight to a hover. I am trimming the Huey ALL.THE.TIME.

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